I’m no longer allowed to see Drew or catch a ride home with him now. To make matters worse, my dad made it to where I had to catch the bus with Trisha if Josh couldn’t take me anywhere. It sucks. My life officially sucks and I don’t understand it.
Drew’s a good kid, so he kept his word to my dad and stayed away from me. At home anyway. At school we were still very much a couple.
“You still grounded?” Asks Patrice.
“Yep.”
“How much longer?”
“Probably until I’m eighteen.” I sigh.
“You and Drew are like the perfect couple though.” Trisha pouts.
“We’re both trying to be respectful, but it’s so hard.”
“Sorry Sid.”
“It’s all good. Drew and I will just have to be a school campus couple until the Warden lifts his sanction on us.” I roll my eyes.
No matter how much anyone felt sorry for me it wasn’t going to change my fathers mind about me dating Drew. It didn’t matter. Sidney Stansfield was done being ‘good’. Nope. No more being the law-abiding princess for daddy. From this point on, I’m going to march to the beat of my own drum and I don’t care what kind of hell I catch for it.
The first week after the dinner that blew up in my face I was put through doing grueling housework. The third week and come the end of the fourth week my dad finally let me off punishment.
It was the longest month of my life and all I did was think about Drew and the sweet kisses we shared. The guys were playing football outside again, so I went outside to watch.
“You going outside?” Dad stops me at the front door.
“Is there a problem?”
“I’m not stupid Sid, I know why you’re going out there.”
“Yeah, because I always go outside to watch them play.” I scoff.
“Stay away from Drew, are we clear?” He orders.
“Can I at least talk to him?” I ask. “Or is talking against the laws in this house too?”
“Yes, but no going over to his house and no going on walks together.” He replies.
“Fine.”
I hurry outside and walked over to Trisha who’s standing next to Josh. He’s talking to Drew. Scott smiles at me as I walked over, but it was more of a ha-ha smile than a smile that said hello.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” Drew smiles.
“I want to thank you for being so cool about everything.”
“Don’t sweat it, it’s no big deal.” He smiles, nervously.
Some girl I didn’t recognize was talking to Drew’s mom across the street and they looked pretty chummy.
“Who’s the new girl?” I ask.
“She’s the new transfer Sid.” Trisha informs me. “Where have you been this past month?”
“In pure hell.” I answer. “Does she live here?”
“No, I invited her over.” Says Drew.
“For what?”
“She’s new and she doesn’t have any friends.”
“Why is that YOU’RE problem?” I ask.
“It’s not. I’m just trying to be nice.” He holds both his hands up.
Am I having a horrible nightmare or has Drew really invited another girl over to watch them play football? She was beautiful, obviously mixed and I instantly hate her. Drew waves her over to come say hi and like a puppy being called by its master she happily jogged over to us to say hi.
“Everybody this is Nicole.” Drew introduces her.
Nicole waves to everyone, but her eyes…her eyes lock on Drew and she blushes. I watch the two of them exchange glances and alarms go off inside me.
“Hi Nicole, I’m Sidney, Drew’s girlfriend.” I reach out to shake her hand.
Her smile fades and she looks over at Drew like I’d just punched her in the stomach. “I wasn’t aware that Drew had a girlfriend.” She reluctantly shakes my hand. “I’ve never seen you with him at the-”
“Sid’s my girlfriend.” Drew cut her off.
“What? At the what?” I ask, curious. What the heck was she about to say? Ugh!
“Ooooooookay.” She seems confused.
Again she and Drew exchange glances. “Can I talk to you?” I ask, grabbing Drew by the arm and dragging him over to my driveway. “Why is she here?”
“Look, after what went down during dinner my parents asked me to seeing you out of respect for your dad. Then they found out I was still seeing they made me promise to at least see other people, so I kind of asked Nicole out.” He confesses.
A part of me literally just died. If his parents are pressuring him to see other girls then it means Nicole is here to see him as someone who’s interested in him and he knew I’d be here.
“So you and I are what? Are we done?” I ask, my heart slowing starting panic.
“No. I just…I think we should see other people too. At least until your dad lets up, or until…”
“Until what?” I cut him off, hurt.
“I don’t know Sid.” He shoves his hands in his pocket and averts his eyes to the ground.
“Until we break up.” I finish his sentence for him.
“Don’t give me that look.” Drew sighs. “Your dad barely even lets you out of the house so it’s not like we can actually spend time together outside of school and that’s not enough for me. Don’t get me wrong, I really-REALLY like you Sid, but I need more than just seeing you in the halls or at lunch.”
Cue the Titanic music because my relationship with Drew is sinking fast and I’m so hurt right now that I don’t even know what to say to him.
“So she’s here for you? Why would you invite her here knowing I was going to be here?”
“I didn’t invite her. My mom did. Nicole’s mom and my mom are a part of some book club together.” He explains. “Besides, it’s not like I can even touch you while we’re in front of your dads house and later the fellas and I are going over to Christian’s.”
“And you’re taking Nicole.” I surmise.
“Yeah.” He nods.
I’m so hurt right now that I don’t even want to look at him. The worse part about it is I can’t even argue with him because I’m not supposed to be dating him in the first place. He has several valid points but I’m still hurt. Nicole is gorgeous for one, and what if he falls for her?
Shaking my head I do the only thing I can do and walk away. Seeing the look on my face, Trisha, Em and Patrice all come rushing over to check on me.
“What did he say?” Patrice asks.
“He wants to have an open relationship, and Barbie over there is his date tonight.” I reply not even bothering to hide my bitterness.
Nicole looks over at me as Drew is probably explaining to her the same thing he explains to me. She looks just as hurt as I feel, but her hand Drew is holding, not mine. My girls try to comfort me, but nothing can undo the hurt I’m feeling right now. I tried to fight it but it’s too strong and tears form in my eyes before I can stop them. This is yet another reminder of how much my father is ruining my life.
“Whoa.” Trisha pulls me into a tight hug. “Hey, don’t do that.”
She reaches up to wipe away my tears but I turn away from her. I don’t want to be touched and I don’t to be told everything is going to be okay because it’s not. FML!
After at least twenty minutes of watching them hold hands I can’t take it anymore and decide to go in the house. I’m almost to the front door when Drew grabs me by the arm to stop me. I yank away from him and continue into my house where I thought he wouldn’t follow me, but I was wrong.
“Sid stop and talk to me.”
“Why? You have a girlfriend Drew and I’m too RESTRICTED for you, so go be with her.” I reply.
“I can’t wait two years Sid.”
“Yeah, I got that message loud and clear.” I scoff.
“We’re still friends, so why are you acting like this?” He asks.
“I don’t WANT to be your friend Drew, I care about you.”
We stood there exchanging awkward glances and then he left without saying a word. That’s when I notice my parents standing there. They saw everything.
“Congratulations on ruining my life. You guys make wonderful parents.”
Storming up to my room, I lock myself inside and walk over to the window. Drew looks up at me from the street and sighs. His mom called him into his house and Nicole followed. To say I have strong feelings for him would me an understatement and they weren’t going away any time soon.
Those feelings only intensified when we were at school where I knew I would see him or run into him. Seeing him with Nicole provoked a new kind of pain I don’t think I’m ready for. And now the time we spent together at school was becoming less and less. He began spending all of his time with Nicole. Why wouldn’t he? Thanks to my dad I’m undateable. I hate this. I hate my life. It’s just one big disappointment after another.
I’m forced to be around Drew and Nicole who are the new IT couple even though he and I are still technically together. And whenever I did talk to Drew it usually resulted in an argument about how little time we spent together. AGAIN, not his fault, but I wanted what he had with Nicole. It’s what we used to have before Josh made me tell dad about us.
My grades began to slip again, but it’s not because of lack of effort it’s because I’m depressed. Ms. Newton my fifth period teacher approached me about my lack of focus and when she questioned me about my lack of enthusiasm for anything I broke down in tears.
A parent teacher conference was called and afterwards my dad ordered me to get it together or I was going back to boarding school. I tried for a month to get it together but even those attempts failed. It was like I lost my zest for life and shortly after I was enrolled in boarding school for a second time.
“This sucks.” Trisha sulks. “I won’t be able to walk home with you anymore.”
“Yeah I know.”
“You’re sad and hurt, I don’t see how that adds up to you going to boarding school.”
“I guess I should have sewn a smile on my face and I wouldn’t be going through this.” I complain. “The thing that kills me is that they used to be young once so they should understand, especially mom. But she never does anything to stand up for us she just does whatever dad tells her to.”
“Wow, and I used to think my parents were unreasonable. Compared to yours my parents are saints.” She chuckles.
“I wish I could just force myself to be happy but every time I see him again I just get stuck in this rut that I can’t get out of. It doesn’t help that his other girlfriend is freaking gorgeous either.” I pout.
“Sidney.” Drew pulls up to the sidewalk.
I’m surprised to see him and even more surprised he even remembers my name. He climbs out of his car with his hands shoved in his pockets and walks over to us.
“What do you want?” I ask, angrily.
“Is it true? Are they sending you back?” He asks, worried.
“Oh now you care.” I scoff.
“I don’t want to argue with you Sid, I’m worried about you.”
“What happened? Did Nicole break up with you?” I roll my eyes.
“Are you going to answer my question or take jabs at me all day?”
Both. The truth is I would love to claw your face off so no one will ever want you again, because you’re supposed to be mine.
“Yes, starting next week.” I cave.
“I’m really sorry.” Drew apologizes. “I didn’t-”
“You didn’t do a lot of things Drew, like be here for me.” I snapped at him.
I can see the guilt written on his face, but it’s too late for that now. I’m on my way back to hell and truthfully its not all his fault. “I’ll be fine Drew.” I assure him.
“I never meant to hurt you Kit-Kat.”
“Honestly, I’m not your problem anymore. You should go home.”
Drew stands there for a moment like he wants to say something but decides to get back in his car and drive away.
“Wow, he’s taking this pretty hard.” Em says, feeling sorry for him.
“Can I at least have the address to where you’re going?” Drew calls out to me from his car after turning back around.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I answer.
He nods and drives off for a second time. “I hate that your leaving, but at least we get to have a slumber party before you do.” Trisha smiles.
“Let the send-off ceremonies begin.” We both head into the house.
“Hi Trisha.” Mom waves to her.
“Hello Mrs. Stansfield.” Trisha smiles.
“Sidney, can we talk?” Mom asks.
“What could you possibly say to ruin my life any more than it already is?” I sigh.
“I talked your father out of sending you to boarding school.” She replies.
I’m speechless. Mom never fought for anything against dad and even if she did she never won. I quickly wrap my arms around her and squeeze her as tightly as I can.
It meant a lot to me that she stood up for me and I had a lot more respect for her than I had in the past.
“Thank you so much.”
“That’s not all.” She smiles.
“There’s more?” I asked, curious now.
“As of right now you can start dating Drew but there are going to be A LOT of rules that you’re going to have to follow or that right will be revoked.” She answers.
“ARE YOU SERIOUS?” I shout excitedly.
“Yes, but I went out on a limb for you Sid so don’t let me down.”
“I won’t. I promise.” I assure her. “But how? How did you get him to agree to all of this?”
“Well you’re growing up and part of growing up is learning how to be responsible and take care of your responsibilities. I simply explained that you’d never learn if we don’t give you the opportunity to.”
I hug her again and then Trisha and I run squealing all the way up to my room. I pick up my cell phone up to dial Drew’s number, but I don’t. My fingers pause when I catch a glimpse of him sitting on his porch with Nicole from my bedroom window.
“Come on, let’s play basketball.” I grab Trisha by the arm and drag her outside.
“Sidney you know I don’t know how to play basketball.” Trisha complains.
I didn’t really want to play. What I really wanted to do was spy on Drew. Patrice shows up after about a month of being grounded too and together we try to teach Trisha how to play.
“Come on Trisha you’re giving white girls a bad name right now.” I tell her.
“Oh whatever, I don’t do sports unless its Tennis or Volleyball.” She replies.
Patrice and I both laughed at her. Patrice is mixed like me, white and Mexican. She’s just as good as I am with a ball. She and I used to play Drew and Scott all the time growing up.
“Mind if we join you?” Drew asks.
He’s holding Nicole’s hand and I have to fight back the urge to be rude. I look over at Trisha and Patrice who avoid my eye contact. They want no parts of this drama.
“Sure, why not.” I flash him a fake smile.
What is he DOING? Why would he bring this girl over to my house and ask me if I want to play with her? Sure. Let’s lay ball with your little girlfriend so I can block her shot hopefully nailing her in the face with the ball.
“Remember me, I’m Nicole.” She waves. I hate her and her wave.
“Yeah I remember you. That’s Trisha and that’s Patrice.” I introduce my girls to her.
“Hi.” Trisha and Patrice wave.
“My court, my rules.” I announce. “And since you spend more time with my boyfriend than I do, he’s going to be on my team and you can team up with Patrice.”
Nicole and Drew exchange glances and she accepts. We split up into teams and since Trisha doesn’t know how to play she’s the referee.
“I hear mom and dad let you off the leash.” Josh walks up smiling.
“Yep.” I nod.
“Not only is she not going to boarding school, but they’re allowing her to date Drew.” Trisha cuts her eyes over at Drew and Nicole.
“Really?” Drew looks over at me.
“Yes, really.” I nod and glance over at Nicole. This girl has got to go.
I turn my attention back to Drew and we lock eyes with one another. After a few moments Nicole clears her throat to remind him that she’s still standing here and I smile.
“Drew, Nicole’s mom is on the phone.” Mrs. Taylor shouts from her front porch.
“I better go see what she wants.” Nicole reluctantly walks away.
“I’m right behind you.” He replies, handing me back the ball. “Rain check.”
Drew walks Nicole back to his house and turns to look back at me before going inside. My first plan of action is to get rid of all the girls he’s currently seeing.
“Wow, did you see his face?” Trisha laughs.
“Yeah I know he was like really?” Patricia mocks in a lustful tone.
We all laugh and I shake my head at how silly we are. It’s obvious the connection Drew and I have is still there.
“Come on, let’s go inside and enjoy ourselves a slumber party.”
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